El Meson Regional Survey

Funds are sought for a settlement survey of the El Meson area of Veracruz, Mexico. Using settlement patterns and comparisons of artifact assemblages, this project will investigate the regional political context that gave rise to the Epi-Olmec Script and the Long Count as tools of legitimizing political actors. Two models of regional political organization will be evaluated to determine if the El Meson area was an independent polity or if it was part of a more centralized regional polity headed by Tres Zapotes. The data generated here will complement ongoing work at Tres Zapotes by providing a perspective on Epi-Olmec political organization from an area away from the large center.